1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved vehicle air conditioner which can be manufactured at low costs and which provides for uniform blowoff or emission of conditioned air through air emission ports onto respective rear seats in a passenger compartment of the automotive vehicle.
The present invention also relates to an improved vehicle air conditioner which can reliably maintain a desired direction of conditioned air emission through air emission ports.
The present invention also relates to an improved ceiling structure for an air-conditioned automotive vehicle which can be mounted on a ceiling base member with enhanced ease and affords enhanced convenience of use or operability and which can be manufactured at low costs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicle air conditioners have been known which include an roof air duct provided on the vehicle ceiling for emitting conditioned air toward rear seats of the automotive vehicle.
FIG. 17 hereof is an exploded perspective view showing a conventionally-known roof air duct employed in a vehicle air conditioner. The roof air duct 100 comprises a roof lining or ceiling base member 101 fixed inwardly of a roof panel (not shown), and a duct panel 102 attached to the roof lining 101 in face-to-face relation. The duct panel 102 has an air inlet portion 103 for introducing air into the roof air duct 100, and extended air passageways 111, 112, 113 and 114 for delivering conditioned air to air emission ports 104, 105, 106 and 107, respectively, formed in predetermined positions of the roof lining 101. Namely, the conventional roof air duct 100 is formed into a fork-like branched configuration to deliver the conditioned air via the several separate air passageways 111, 112, 113 and 114; the branched configuration of the roof air duct 100 provides a branched air-accumulating chamber in the air duct 100.
Because one extended air passageway 111, 112, 113, 114 is provided for each of the emission ports 104, 105, 106 and 107 on a one-to-one correspondence, the duct panel 102 would be very complicated in overall shape, and thus fabricating a mold for forming such a duct panel 102 would require a number of processes and hence high costs. Further, a greater volume of the air, introduced into the duct 100 through the air inlet portion 103, tends to be directed to the extended air passageway 114 located close to an extension line or main airflow route of the inlet portion 103 while a much smaller volume of the introduced air tends to be directed to the extended air passageway 111 greatly deviated from the extension line or main airflow route of the inlet portion 103 (see FIG. 13A). Thus, the known roof air duct 100 presents the inconvenience that a significant difference would occur in the volume of the air emitted through the individual emission ports 104, 105, 106 and 107.
Further, an air emission port section for a vehicle air conditioner, through which conditioned air is emitted to a passenger compartment, is known, for example, from Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. HEI-3-11654. The air emission port section disclosed in this publication includes a grille holder having an inner sliding surface of a spherical shape, and an angle-adjustable grille mounted rotatably in the grille holder and having a profile corresponding to the spherical sliding surface of the holder.
In the disclosed air emission port section, however, there would be produced a greater gap between the inner sliding surface of the grille holder and the outer surface of the angle-adjustable grille if the inner diameter of the holder defined by the spherical sliding surface is greater than a center value of its predetermined dimensional tolerance range while the outer diameter of the grille is smaller than a center value of its predetermined dimensional tolerance range, in which case the grille 10 would rotate more easily relative to the holder""s sliding surface. Thus, the grille 10 having been properly adjusted in its rotational position in the grill holder would accidentally rattle or rotate in the holder due to vibration, shape or the like of the automotive vehicle. The rattle or rotation of the grille may prevent the air emission through the air emission port section from being held in a desired direction; that is, a desired air emitting direction may not be obtained or maintained.
Further, to the ceiling base member, such as the roof lining, of automotive vehicles, there are generally attached a plurality of the above-mentioned air emission port sections of the air conditioner, air-conditioner operating section for adjusting the temperature and volume of the conditioned air emitted through the emission port sections, loop lamps and many other ceiling components. The vehicle ceiling having these ceiling components provided thereon will be hereinafter called a xe2x80x9cceiling structurexe2x80x9d. FIG. 18 is a bottom view of a conventionally-known ceiling structure for an air-conditioned vehicle as viewed from within a passenger compartment of an automotive vehicle 112. A plurality of ceiling-component mounting panels 101 are provided on a ceiling base member 100 in corresponding relation to passenger seats (i.e., one ceiling-component mounting panel 101 per passenger seats), with each of the ceiling-component mounting panels 101 provided with an air emission port 102, 103, 104 or 105 of the vehicle air conditioner and room lamp 106, 107, 108 or 109. Further, an air-conditioner operating section 111 is attached to an end portion of the ceiling base member 100.
When the temperature and/or volume of the conditioned air emitted through the air emission port 102 is to be adjusted in the automotive vehicle 112 of FIG. 18, the passenger on the seat closest to or associated with the air emission port 102 can easily reach and manipulate the air-conditioner operating section 111 for the desired adjustment. However, if the conditioned air emitted through any one of the other air emission ports 103-105 is to be adjusted, the passenger on the seat associated with the air emission port 103-105 can not easily reach and manipulate the air-conditioner operating section 111 due to a long distance from the operating section 111.
Although it is possible to position the air-conditioner operating section 111 at a substantial center of the ceiling base member 100 close to the individual air emission ports 102 to 105, this approach presents the inconvenience that the operating section 111 would give a rather offensive sight and thus considerably damage the overall appearance of the vehicle ceiling. Further, because the above-mentioned ceiling-component mounting panels 101 are separate and apart from each other, it is necessary for a human operator to move a lot in attaching the mounting panels 101 to the ceiling base member 100, which would result in a poor assembly or mounting efficiency. Furthermore, attaching the separate ceiling-component mounting panels 101 to the ceiling base member 100 requires provision of a number of mounting holes, parts and the like, which would lead to increased manufacturing costs.
It is accordingly a first object of the present invention to provide a vehicle air conditioner which can be manufactured at low costs and which provides for uniform emission of conditioned air through air emission ports into the interior of the vehicle.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a vehicle air conditioner which includes an air emission port section capable of maintaining a desired air emitting direction.
It is a third object of the present invention to provide a ceiling structure for an air-conditioned vehicle which can be mounted with an enhanced efficiency and affords enhanced convenience of use or operability and which can be manufactured at low costs.
In order to accomplish the above-mentioned first object, the present invention provides a vehicle air conditioner which comprises an air duct provided on a ceiling of a vehicle and having an air inlet portion for introducing air into the air duct and an air-accumulating chamber communicating at an upstream end thereof with the air inlet portion. The air-accumulating chamber has a non-branched configuration and is located substantially centrally in a widthwise direction of the vehicle. The air-accumulating chamber extends in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle from a rear end portion to a near-center portion of the ceiling. The vehicle air conditioner further comprises: air emission port sections provided on the underside of the air duct and communicating with the air-accumulating chamber for emitting the air from the air-accumulating chamber toward respective rear seats of the vehicle; and an air distribution member, preferably in a plate shape, for variably distributing the air to be delivered from the air inlet portion, through the air-accumulating chamber, to the air emission port sections. Preferably, the air-accumulating chamber is generally in a rectangular shape as viewed in plan. Conditioned air introduced via the air inlet portion is distributed by the air distribution member and temporarily accumulated in the non-branched air-accumulating chamber extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, before it is emitted through the air emission port sections toward the rear seats (e.g., second-row and third-row seats).
In the present invention arranged in the above-mentioned manner, the air duct can be significantly simplified in shape as compared to the conventional counterpart, and the mold for forming the air duct can be fabricated at less costs, so that the overall manufacturing costs of the air duct can be reduced effectively. Further, by the provision of the non-branched air-accumulating chamber in the air duct, the air duct can deliver, to the individual air emission port sections, the conditioned air having temporarily accumulated in the air-accumulating chamber in the air duct to assume a substantially uniform pressure distribution, and thus the conditioned air can be emitted through the air emission port sections in generally uniform volumes, in contrast to the conventional air duct having a fork-like branched air-accumulating chamber with one extended air passageway per air emission port. The respective volumes of the conditioned air emitted through the emission ports toward the individual seats can be set or varied freely by changing at least one of the orientation, position and size of the air distribution member and/or the number of the air distribution member used.
In order to accomplish the above-mentioned second object, the present invention provides a vehicle air conditioner which comprises: a grille having a plurality of parallel air slits and rotatably mounted in an air emission port formed in a port base member in such a manner that a direction of air emitted through the air slits of the grille can be adjusted by rotating the grille either rightward or leftward in the air emission port; a sawtooth-like surface formed on and along one of an outer circumferential surface of the grille and an inner circumferential surface of the port base member defining the air emission port; and a locking protrusion provided, on the other of the outer circumferential surface of the grille and the inner circumferential surface of the port base member, for meshing engagement with the sawtooth-like surface in such a manner that the grille can be rotated over a desired angle to a desired rotational position and held at the desired rotational position in the air emission port.
With stepwise meshing engagement (preferably, resilient meshing engagement) of the locking protrusion with the sawtooth-like surface, the grille can be rotated over a desired angle to a desired rotational position and hence to a desired air emitting direction and then held at the desired rotational position in the air emission port. As a consequence, any desired direction of the conditioned air emission can be reliably obtained and such a desired air emitting direction can be retained as desired without being adversely influenced by vibration, shake or the like of the vehicle.
Further, in order to accomplish the above-mentioned third object, the present invention provides a ceiling structure for an air-conditioned vehicle, which comprises: a ceiling base member; a port base member mounted substantially centrally on the ceiling base member and functioning as a multi-purpose ceiling-component panel having formed therein a plurality of air emission ports for a vehicle air conditioner; an air-conditioner operating section for adjusting temperature and/or volume of the air emitted through the air emission ports; and a room lamp for illuminating a passenger compartment, the air emission ports, air-conditioner operating section and room lamp being provided together as a unit on the port base member.
With the inventive ceiling structure, the air emission ports, air-conditioner operating section and room lamp are located near each individual seat in a passenger compartment, so that every one of the passengers on these seats can easily reach and manipulate any desired one of the ceiling components provided on the base member. Thus, the present invention can enhance the convenience of use or operability of the air emission ports, air-conditioner operating section and room lamp. Further, the collective provision of the air emission ports, air-conditioner operating section and room lamp at the substantial central portion of the ceiling base member eliminates the need for a human operator to move a great amount in mounting these ceiling components, thereby greatly enhancing the assembly or mounting efficiency.
Furthermore, with the above-mentioned inventive arrangement that the air emission ports, air-conditioner operating section and room lamp are provided together as a unit on the port base member or multi-purpose ceiling-component mounting panel, the number of necessary parts can be significantly reduced, as compared to the case where these ceiling components are mounted separately.
It is desirable that the ceiling structure further comprises a plurality of grilles, mounted in respective ones of the air emission ports, for fixing a flow direction of air emitted from the pots.